SYLLABUS - Tyndale University



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MTS Modular Program

SYLLABUS

Work, Vocation and Ministry

INTD M506

Mondays, Oct. 24 and 31, Nov. 7, 14 and 21, 2011, 6-10 pm

Instructor: Rev. Terry Smith Office Phone : 905-821-3533

Email: tsmith@

Consultation with Students: available by appointment

Program Webpage: tyndale.ca/seminary/mtsmodular

Course description

This module seeks to bridge the gulf between Monday and Sunday by equipping Christians for God’s service through their daily work in society. It develops a practical theology of the laity, emphasizing the laity’s calling to engage as a missional people in the marketplace. The course also explores the concept of “ministry in everyday life,” examines the strategic role of Christians as leaders in non-ecclesial settings, and develops models of Church-based equipping ministries for the laity engaged in the public arena.

I. Learning Objectives

ATTITUDINAL

1. Students will deepen and clarify their own personal sense of vocation.

2. Students will grow in their commitment to serving the whole of the people of God.

BEHAVIOURAL

3. Students will be capable of identifying challenges common to lay leadership and able to develop a training plan for effecting transformation at a local church level.

4. Students will acquire skills in research methods suited to ministry and leadership studies.

5. Students will be able to develop congregationally-based leadership development strategies for Christian service and witness in the workplace

COGNITIVE

6. Students will be able to articulate a biblical-theological understanding of the laity, lay ministry, work, Sabbath, and vocation or “calling.”

7. Students will strengthen their communication skills involving oral presentations of research findings to their peers.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

A. REQUIRED TEXTS

Bakke, Ray (with Jim Hartt). The Urban Christian. Effective Ministry in Today’s Urban World. Downer’s Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 2006. Pp. 202. ISBN 0877845239

NB : BAKKE MUST BE READ PRIOR TO THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS ON OCTOBER 24TH, 2011

Guinness, Os. The Call. Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003. Pp. 304. ISBN 0849944376.

Stevens, Paul. Doing God’s Business: Meaning and Motivation for the Marketplace. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006. Pp. 251. ISBN 0802833985

(assigned sections from Dawn, Marva, Sense of the Call, A Sabbath Way of Life, Grand Rapids, MI, Eerdmans, 2006, pp. 350, ISBN 0802844596)

B. COURSE ASSIGNMENTS

Detailed description of assignments

1. In-class participation (5%)

0. Attendance is extremely important in a course of this kind - I will take attendance each day.

1. I expect you to be ready when the course begins (6PM). I deduct points for being late for class.

2. Students are requested not to be accessing internet via wireless during the class, unless directed to do so.

3. Turn off your cell-phones, pagers, smart phones and blackberry.

4. We will use discussion format and small groups extensively. Your active engagement with your classmates is an essential part of the learning experience in this course. Be prepared to listen and to speak.

5. You are expected to come to class prepared. Primarily this means being ready to interact critically and creatively with the assigned readings.

6. You will have an opportunity for self-evaluation of this component of the class. Your self-evaluation will be taken into account alongside my own judgment with regard to this portion of your final mark.

2. Weekly Journal (10%)

• Journaling is a helpful tool to montinor your own growth during the class. I want you to be posting weekly opinions, experiences, observations and dialogue with one another on our course page.

• Entries into the journaling should be a minimum of 250 words

• I will be watching to see how you interact with the course material and reading, your own personal experiences and other students’ comments.

3. Two 2-page book report on Bakke (5%; Due Oct. 25) and Guinness (5%; Due Nov. 14)

7. The purpose of the book reflection is to stimulate your engagement with the ideas presented in the required text.

8. A standard outline would include:

9. Key points in the book

10. How does the author substantiate his/her theses?

11. Several examples of the author’s principle points (don’t recopy the quote – just give me the appropriate reference, page and paragraph)

12. Personal evaluation of the book, including possible action points.

4. 4-5 pages - Personal reflection based on Stevens (10%). Due: Nov. 28 (one week after final class)

13. The purpose of the testimony is to articulate a personal sense of marketplace ministry through reflection on your readings of Stevens, Doing God’s Business. At the top left corner of the page, put your name, course number “INTD M506 Work, Vocation and Ministry.”

14. Include your student number (and if by paper copy, and mailbox number). No title page or cover sheet is needed.

• The paper should not exceed 5-page, font size, 12; one-and-a-half lined space.

15. Papers should be submitted prior to the beginning of class on the assigned date.

5. Marketplace Media Presentation (20%; Due Nov. 14th)

Marketplace Media Presentation – Choosing from one of the following media, the students will give a brief (max. 5 minutes) excerpt of the content of the media presentation, (with examples), followed by 5 – 10 minute analysis of the philosophy of ‘work’ depicted in the media chosen. The students should highlight how work is described, the model of work, observations on the worldview of the person / people represented, their understanding of the value of work and the subsequent consequences of such attitudes. The marketplace depictions may be either positive or negative.

Media options: Print (magazine, newspapers, etc), websites, podcasts and/or blogs, movies, televisions shows, radio broadcasts, etc.

You will be graded on the following criteria:

i. Relevancy of the media presentation to the subject

ii. Degree of understanding of the presuppositions and worldview

iii. Accuracy of the description of the work involved

iv. Creativity and clarity of the presentation

v. Individual application

6. Final Assignment. (50%; Dec. 19th) You must choose between one of the two following options:

Option A: 10-15 page congregational analysis examining the issues faced by members of your congregation in their workplaces and a strategy for equipping members of the church for workplace ministry.

• The purpose of this assignment is to enable you to become familiar with grassroots perspectives, struggles and opportunities being experienced by men and women in your congregation about how they live out their Christian faith in the context of the workplace and enable you to integrate your learning in this course by developing a congregational strategy for equipping the saints for workplace ministry.

• You should … (1) seek to identify the issues that people in your church are facing in the workplace; (2) describe the approach to workplace issues that characterizes your congregation; and (3) describe what is being done by the church, its staff and programs, to address the needs of Christians in the workplace dimension of their lives.

• You can gather information by quantitative (survey) or qualitative (semi-structured interviews) of a minimum sample of 10people in your local church to identify issues people are facing in the workplace and what role they feel the church might have in helping them live out their faith in daily life.

• Go deeper with several (minimum of 2) mature Christian leaders (preferably key lay leaders) in the congregation about how they see their daily work relating to their faith;

• Interview the congregation’s senior pastor or Christian Ed’ Pastor or Director about issues they see people facing and how the church seeks to equip its members for their roles and responsibilities in the workplace.

• Your essay should clearly describe the need for training and the specific goals you would establish for the process.

• Your essay should operate with a clear, specific model of training or development, and should explain why your chosen approach is well-suited to the congregation. Make sure your model is culturally relevant, financially affordable, theologically appropriate, and practically useful.

• Your essay should be as specific as possible about the curriculum being used.

• Your essay should include a means of assessment or evaluation of the training provided—when will the learners’ growth or transformation be assessed? How? By whom?

• Have fun and be creative.

• The paper needs to be a well-written, well-organized essay rather than a series of impressions or fragments in response to a list of questions.

• Typically (but this can vary) the assignment will include 2 pages of overview, 6 – 8 pages of findings from your survey, 4 pages of curriculum / training material and a summary page).

• YOU MUST INCLUDE A BIBLIOGRAPHY TO PASS THIS ASSIGNMENT

Option B: Personal philosophy of ministry for your workplace context: (special reference to Karl Barth’s CHURCH DOGMATICS,

CD IV, 3 (paragraph 71 – The Vocation of Man, section 3. The Goal of Vocation [pg. 520])

• The purpose of this assignment is to enable you to reflect on the integration of all the previous work in the course and bring it together into a personal statement of your approach to integrating Christian faith with your work, or being a Christian in your workplace, with reference to the writing of karl Barth on this subject.

• The paper should be a reflective essay – not a research paper – that draws upon readings, lectures, classroom interaction and small group discussions.

• You must demonstrate that you have read and clearly understand Karl Barth’s understanding of vocation and call from the section indicated in Church Dogmatics.

• The paper should show you have a good grasp of the major themes and issues of the course, without “rehashing” or summarizing someone’s book or my lectures.

• Concentrate your energy upon answering the following question in your paper. “In light of the challenges and opportunities you experience in living out your Christian faith in your workplace, what is your understanding of your ministry at work?”

• Be sure to integrate a solid Biblical framework for your personal philosophy of the workplace.

• You should consider incorporating reflection on your sense of spiritual gifts and personal calling, along with your “passion” in life; your cultural or missiological analysis of your workplace; your own theology of work and vocation, spirituality, mission, etc.

• You should discuss some areas in which you need to grow or develop in order to “minister” at work—this essay should help you identify areas of needed growth rather than being an attempt to make yourself look perfect!

• The book by Banks (Robert Banks, ed. Faith Goes to Work: Reflections from the Marketplace [Washington, DC: Alban Institute, 1993]) includes essays by people in various professions reflecting on how faith impacts their work. These offer you a variety of examples for your consideration, but they are only examples—they are not perfect, and should not be imitated! These are meant to stimulate your thinking and suggest possible avenues of approach, especially if you are feeling a bit “stuck” and wondering how you will get started.

• My suggestion is that you should look at them to find some elements that are useful or applicable to your way of approaching things, and read them to get some inspiration.

• Have fun and be creative.

(NB: See also the MTS Modular Work, Vocation and Ministry Virtual Reading Room)

C. GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR THE SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN WORK

Students should consult the current Academic Calendar for academic polices on Academic Honesty, Gender Inclusive Language in Written Assignments, Late Papers and Extensions, Return of Assignments, and Grading System. The Academic Calendar and other policies related to the MTS Modular Program are available at .

D. SUMMARY OF ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING

Evaluation is based upon the completion of the following assignments [Sample]

|Class Participation |5 % |

|Weekly journaling |10 % |

|Book report #1 (Bakke) | 5 % |

|Book report #2 (Guinness) |5 % |

|Reflection based on Stevens |10 % |

|Marketplace (media) Presentation |15 % |

|Written Assignment | 50 % |

|Total Grade |100% |

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